Their True First Date
by Rossnrachgal
Summary: What happened on Niles and Daphne's first date? What did they talk about after the camera faded out while they were dancing on the roof? A continuation of their first date from "And the Dish Ran Away With the Spoon."


"You know what I've always wondered?" Niles asked while he held Daphne close in his arms as they danced together for the first time as a couple.

"I think I can guess," Daphne replied.

"Yeah?"

"What our first date would be like?" Daphne guessed, really unsure of what Niles was referring to.

Niles pulled back slightly from Daphne's body so he could see her eyes.

"Well yes, that," Niles responded with a small smile. "But I was going to say that I've always wondered what it would be like to dance with you once you knew how I felt about you."

Just three days prior, they had danced together at her rehearsal dinner. Both knew in that moment exactly how they felt about one another. But at the time, Niles had no idea that Daphne was aware of his feelings for her or that she felt the same way about him.

"Well, what's the verdict then?" Daphne asked with a large smile across her face.

"It's beyond what I could have ever imagined. Just being here with you is all I could ever ask for."

Daphne looked deeply into his eyes. Those stunning eyes, she thought to herself. Recently, Niles had made a comment to her about how warm and full of life her eyes are. Her heart pounded a little faster the moment he said that to her. She told him how beautiful his eyes were, and then caught herself feeling something for him again. It was a feeling that she had felt so many times leading up to her wedding. Nothing a woman should feel towards a man when she's engaged to another. Now tonight she could feel everything she wanted to for him, and it was pure bliss.

"You're sweet," Daphne giggled while Niles twirled her around.

"You know, there were so many times I wanted to tell you how I felt. I had so many chances over the years. And of course I'm glad Frasier accidentally told you about my feelings, or this moment may not be happening right now," Niles declared.

Daphne pulled him a little closer to her and initiated a kiss. Such passion. Their first kiss had been very passionate. The kind where neither of you can resist the temptation anymore. Where all of your submerged feelings have finally come to the surface and you can finally let the other person know how you feel. The last three days had been a whirlwind of drama and they hadn't had the chance to really be alone together. They finally could kiss each other the way two people deeply in love do. Once they pulled apart she wrapped her arms around his upper body so they could continue to dance.

"Wow," Niles said softly.

"Was that part of how you imagined it would be?" Daphne asked.

"It was," Niles started to say, still on a high from that incredible kiss, "But even better."

"So all these times you could have told me about how you felt. Are these times I would remember?" Daphne whispered.

"Maybe," Niles confessed, unsure if he should tell her about so many of the close calls.

"Like?" Daphne said in a high-pitched, sort of joking tone.

"Well, remember that time you overheard me tell Frasier that I was in love with someone? And you thought it was Phyllis?" Niles asked.

Daphne pulled her head back from his shoulder so she could see him again. Their amazing dance carried on.

"You mean?" Daphne started to say.

Niles nodded and smiled with a shy tone.

"You made up that whole night just so I wouldn't find out about your feelings?"

"I didn't want to. But I was so unsure of what to do in that moment and it just came to me. When you showed up at the apartment and tried to help me make a dinner, I just didn't have the courage to tell you the truth."

Daphne smiled. "You are so cute. I can't believe you let it go that far."

"Well, I had so much fun with you that night. The fact that my neighbor Phyllis actually showed up almost ruined it," Niles confessed. "I'm glad I was able to get her out of there."

"We did have fun that night, didn't we?" Daphne recalled. "If only I had known…"

"I know. Trust me, it took everything I had not to try and kiss you that night." Niles admitted.

This time, he kissed her. The feeling of her lips against his made him weak in the knees.

"I love you, Niles," Daphne said quietly after her lips left his. Her eyes gazed into his sweet, beautiful blue eyes.

"I love you too," Niles also said in a soft voice.

"What would you have done with all that food if I hadn't agreed to have dinner with you that night?" Daphne said while laughing.

"I suppose I could have taken it over to Phyllis' place and confessed my undying love for her," Niles joked.

"You silly sod," Daphne laughed. "What do you say we have some of that wonderful food Dr. Crane brought in for us?

"That sounds perfect," Niles agreed.

He took her hand and led her back to the table. Just as he had pulled her chair out for her to stand up and dance, he pulled it out for her so she could retake her seat.

"Let's see what we have here," Niles said while he lifted the lid from his place setting.

"This all looks so lovely," Daphne said.

"Not as lovely as you look tonight," Niles gushed.

"Well aren't you just the sweetest."

"You better get used to it. I've got lost time to make up for," Niles said while cutting into his entrée.

"Mmmm," Daphne mumbled as she took the first bite of her food.

"I can't wait to take you to all of my favorite places. Seattle's restaurant scene is just fantastic and I've always wanted someone to share the experiences with."

"You didn't share them with Maris?" Daphne asked.

Niles laughed. "Maris' idea of fine dining was always the water and crackers."

"You and your brother do always seem to know the best places to go. I have to admit, I'm not used to all the fine dining you're accustomed to," Daphne admitted.

"The more to share with you, my sweet."

"Me, I'll cook you a big English meal sometime soon. You can see how the Moon boys ate while growing up." She laughed.

"That sounds perfect," Niles lied. Of course he couldn't wait to share many meals with her, but he knew her English cooking wouldn't be his finest dining experience.

"I always enjoy cooking for your father. Well, most of the time I guess. He can be a picky dope at times," Daphne smiled. "It will be fun to cook for you now."

"I would love to have you to my place soon and let you cook for me."

"I can't wait," Daphne replied as she continued to enjoy the meal.

"I suppose we will be cooking in a lot at first," Niles mumbled. "I'm so sorry about that."

"It's alright. We shouldn't talk about that tonight though. I know it won't be easy, but at least we will deal with it together," Daphne replied.

Niles couldn't believe what it was like to have a kind woman that he could finally call "his person". "You know, I'll have a lot to get used to in this relationship."

Daphne looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"I've never really been with anyone that was nice to me. Maris and Mel, well you know." His voice trailed off slowly.

"You're a kind and decent man, Niles. You always deserved better than both of them," Daphne reassured him.

"I guess in a way, since I've met you there was really no hope with either of them anyway. At the end of the day, I was always thinking about you."

"You're making me blush."

"It's funny, all this talk of cooking and blushing makes me think about something that happened a few months ago," Niles recalled.

"What?"

"Remember when you were helping me cook that meal and I burned my hand?"

Daphne instantly knew the moment he was referring to. "I do."

"The way you put that ointment on my hand. So tenderly. Had, had you developed feelings for me at that point?"

Daphne looked down at her plate and was quiet for a moment.

"Daphne?" Niles asked, concerned.

"Yes, I had," she confessed. "I wanted to keep holding your hand that day, but I knew it was wrong at the time."

He reached across the table and took her hand into his. "You can hold it now."

She blushed again. "I think that was the day I realized that I was falling for you. I was so scared when I couldn't get you out of me mind."

Niles rubbed his thumb across her hand. He didn't want to let go.

"After that happened, I asked Frasier if it was possible that you felt something for me. Of course he batted that idea down right away."

"You must just know me better than he does," Daphne flirted.

"I do, don't I? But there are so many things about you I don't know. I can't wait to learn."

"What would you like to know, honey?" she asked.

He loved the sound of that word coming from her mouth. Honey. Daphne Moon was calling him honey. Was he dreaming?

"Your favorite flower?"

"I'm a bit of a traditionalist. I love roses," she replied.

"I'll have to keep that in mind," Niles flirted with her.

Daphne smiled.

"What was it about Seattle that made you come here? You could have gone anywhere in the United States and you chose the Emerald City. Maybe I'm a little biased, but I'm sure glad you did."

"Well, when I decided to leave Manchester for my grand adventure I wanted to get as far away from it as possible. I had broken it off with Clive not too long before and wanted a fresh start. But I guess part of me also wanted something that would remind me of home, and the cloudiness of Seattle just seemed so similar to England," Daphne responded.

"It takes such bravery to do what you did. To just up and move your life across the world like that. I've lived here my whole life. I don't think I'd ever have the courage to do what you did."

"I hope you aren't planning on doing that now!" Daphne joked. "I love it here. And now I have even more of a reason."

"Don't you worry. I'm not going anywhere," Niles assured her. "Would you like some more champagne?"

"Of course."

Niles poured both of them another glass. He couldn't believe how perfect the evening was. It was everything he could ever want.

"I'm not really a big wine drinker. You're going to have to teach me more about it," Daphne said.

"I'd love to do that. I'll take you to a tasting one of these days. It gets old going with Frasier."

"And I'm going to take you to me favorite pub. Oh I can't wait for my friends to get to know you," Daphne replied.

For the next two hours they talked about everything. Their favorites. Their hopes. Their dreams. They made so many plans of everything they wanted to do together once they were free. Daphne wasn't naïve. She knew fairy tales didn't exist. She knew that once this night ended they were going to have months of hard times as Niles dealt with Mel's demands. Niles knew the same. He had rushed into the marriage with Mel, assuming that the chance to be with Daphne had died the day she accepted Donny's proposal. But this night, under the stars, everything did seem like a fairy tale to both of them. Maybe it was because neither had experienced true love before. They had each been in relationships in which they thought they were in love. Daphne with Clive and Donny and Niles with Maris and Mel. This first date, however, assured both of them that they had made the right decision. The butterflies Niles had felt around Daphne for so many years had new meaning. He still felt them, but now they were because he could be himself with her. He could tell her how much she meant to him. The butterflies she felt over the last few months were now nothing to be ashamed of. Here was this amazing, kind man she had known for so many years, and it turned out he was the love of her life.

As midnight approached, Niles began to clean up the place settings.

"Let me help you with that," Daphne insisted.

"You will do nothing of the sort," Niles replied. "You stay right there and let me get all of this."

"You keep scoring brownie points," Daphne joked. "I'm not sure there will be any left after tonight."

"You just wait. I'm going to spoil you for the rest of your life," Niles stated confidently.

"The rest of my life!?" Daphne exclaimed. "I thought we were taking it slow?"

Niles laughed. "We are. I'm sorry. But I can't help that I know you're the one."

She smiled back at him. As he gathered everything set up by Frasier earlier that night, she watched him with a small smile spread across her face. He blew out the candles and put the remaining items in a picnic basket.

"You ready?" he asked once he had finished with the last of the candles?

"I don't really want this night to end," Daphne responded.

Niles returned a smile her way. "I don't want it to end either. Do you want to dance again?"

Daphne didn't respond verbally. She simply rose to her feet and took Niles' hand, this time leading him back to the middle of the roof.

There was no music. Just the sounds of the city behind them. She rested her head on his shoulder as they slowly moved in small circle movements.

"You're beautiful," Niles whispered in her ear.

Daphne remained quiet, but slowly moved her lips to his, lightly biting on his bottom lip. He responded to her gentleness, grazing his hands up and down her back. Her hands worked their way through his hair as she lightly caressed the back of his head. They stayed like that for an unknown amount of time, because time was standing still for both of them.

When they finally left the roof, Niles, the gentleman he was, walked Daphne back to her door.

"This is me," she said.

"It is. So, do you think I can see you again?" Niles joked.

"I'll think about it," she teased back.

"I will call you tomorrow." Niles leaned in for one more kiss, this time innocent and sweet.

"I love you, Daphne."

Daphne mouthed "I love you" back to Niles and turned around, giving him one more smile before closing the door behind her. 


End file.
